It hadn't taken them long to get ready, and they didn't see a need to wait. They purchased some items in town - a wire system to warn them if something wandered into a camp, and a candle that promised to deter monsters. Qae said she'd never heard of anyone using it and it not working, but enough people who bought one also never returned so they never could be quite sure.

Still, it was cheap and they hadn't bought much yet.

"How come you picked that one?" Liddy asked Fiona, as they headed out the village. "I thought my harpy was so cute!" she pouted.

"She was. But the claw-feet looked scary, and it's high up. And I might get a wing-based power." Fiona reasoned out loud, as they headed on the path going deeper into the woods. To the oldest part. "I'm surprised at your choice Qaerlyz, I didn't expect something with wings from you."

"You're right - however I expected the pixies to have less wing-specific traits, and more around fluttering, teleportation, control. It was a gamble from an ability point of view." She said matter of factly. So the dragon queen had wanted to see Fiona bully some tiny women.

That could be arranged.

"So why the Dryad?" Liddy asked again, and Annabelle and Ash spoke up exactly at the same time, women of Fiona's heart.

"Vines." 

Fiona looked back at them, upset and offended, mouth agape.

"You! No... That!" They weren't wrong, but they didn't have to be so smug about it. Ash in particular.

"It's why I would have picked it... And we like the same toys, Mistress" her pet smiled.

"It seems the most likely to work that was all!" Fiona said, pretending she wasn't excited. She'd tried a lot of things since coming to the tower, but a sexy, beautiful tree woman wrapping her up in vines and taking her seed? If that's what would happen, she would have a great time. And hopefully, upgrade an item - she hadn't been bound yet. 

That was the main reason. She tried to convince herself of that, regularly as they made their way through the woods. Mostly she failed.

Travelling through the woods proved tricky again. While most of the enemies they saw seemed to be within reason for their party to defeat - especially if they used their once-per-floor effects - they didn't want to waste anything. And saving those for Gertram and the group seemed to be the smarter plan - if they could subdue every boss with... Passion, the fight with other climbers would be where they used their most powerful abilities if they had to.

Willy & Qae, the flying duo kept them safe and helped guide them around various bosses - some, like a wolf woman, even more muscular than Fiona, with pawed hands holding a pair of wicked, curled blades as she prowled through the forest. Fiona almost suggested just going for this one but was stopped by Annabelle.

"The game! Fiona don't mess it up for us!" She pouted, and Fiona nodded. If this is what it took to make everyone have a good time as they climbed their way up, that was fine. If one of them had picked her they could find her again later.

And so Qae was hanging out halfway up the three, shooting out little balls of blue fire into the air to signal when it was safe to move, guiding them past every boss they found as they got deeper and deeper into the woods. Willy was all the way up top, looking out for other creatures like the Hawk - they were rare, but he spotted two. One of them Annabelle announced was the harpy queen Fiona had passed on, and apparently, she was fighting someone and the claws were as scary as they sounded. Fiona was happy with her choice.

Fiona thought like in most stories she'd read and movies she'd seen, the deeper she went to the woods would darker, scarier - bare trees, dark fog, and spooky mists. Twisted, gnarled roots and no vegetation in the darkness of the woods.

She couldn't have been further from the truth.  

It did get a little darker, but instead of dreary, dark, and spooky, the words that came to mind were verdant and lush. They had to wade through thick, green grass, the bits of light coming through the canopy somehow being enough to support so much greenery and foliage on the forest floor. An infinite variety of flowers and plants, so many colours. Fiona was mesmerized walking through the woods, only remembering they were actually in a dangerous area when Annabelle pulled her quickly behind a bush. Fiona had missed Qae's warning, an enormous tree creature, an ent Fiona thought, whatever the Tower called it suddenly walked into view with a harsh rumble through the woods with every step.

It confirmed there was something magical going on - as it bent and broke the vegetation as it stepped through the woods, a soft green glow surrounded and straightened the plants back, fixing broken leaves and bent branches, and seconds after it was as if the creature had never been there.

The tree-giant itself was made of gnarled roots, covered in bark and lichen. Swinging limbs, covered in vines and leaves, a face carved out of bark. A rich green canopy, covered in birds fluttering about around its head, a squirrel running along its limbs.

The group hurried on further in as the creature wandered into the distance, navigating through the woods, stepping through a light stream the water rushing around Fiona's feet, and as she stepped out she looked at a gate of sorts - twisted woods wrapped around to create a wall, with a single entrance.

Through the entrance, they saw a luscious, green carpeted floor, and the creature they were seeking. The dryad seemed inanimate, rooted in the middle of the grove, her light green and brown skin reflecting in the warm sunlight. Leave's and flowers covered her hair.

Fiona looked at her friends, and her party members, and stepped through. They all followed, Qae right behind her, shield up ready to step in front. Annabelle, Liddy, and Ash are right behind, and Tamlin somewhat tentatively steps into the grove.

"Ah. Challengers" The Dryad's eyes slowly opened, and her voice sounded like a babbling brook, like the susurration of leaves in the woods. It sent a shiver through Fiona's spine. Oh she was hot. Hopefully, this worked out. 

"Do you have an offering of seeds for me, to add to my forest and let me sleep again - or do you wish to defeat me in combat, be boring?" She stretched as she woke up, her soft, generous mounds pushing forward towards Fiona, presenting them. Her wide hips cocked slightly to one side, thick thighs ending in roots, sticking her to the ground. She let the question hang in the air. At least she didn't want to fight, it seemed.

"I... Uhm." Fiona started. Was she really just gonna offer a boss her sperm? Of course, she was. How was this even strange, compared to the rest of her time in the tower? She took a deep breath. "We... I hope to offer seed of a sort." She said.

"Of a sort? Explain." The dryad continued a sly smile on her face. 

"Yeah uhm." She might as well be brazen. She pulled her loincloth to the side, letting her cocksock be fully visible, swollen balls hanging behind them. "Yeah. Seed." She said, trying to match the dryad's smile.

"Well. Certainly not boring. And it will not help me grow my woods... But I always enjoy this kind of offering." She looked at the other girls in the party. "Do you also have seed for me?" She asked.

Fiona panicked slightly. They needed an offering from each of them? She hadn't expected that, no one even considered that. Everyone shook their head nervously.

"Ah... Well, this will be suitable. But I believe you all need to join" She said, as her smile turned to a grin, and vines started climbing up the legs of each of the party members.

Oh. Fiona smiled.
It wouldn't be just her this time.